During reconstructive bone surgery, an implant is secured to the bone to secure bone fragments together or replace a resected portion of the bone. The implant is configured to receive mechanical fasteners, such as screws or bolts, which can be driven into the bone to fix the implant to the bone. A drawback of a mechanical fasteners is that additional surgeries are required to remove the mechanical fasteners after the implant is secured or to remove the implant. Certain implants comprise materials for facilitating ingrowth of the surrounding bone into the implant to fuse the implant with the bone. The mechanical fasteners can interfere with the ingrowth of the bone.
In certain reconstructive surgeries, the implant can act as a bone anchor is set into the bone to provide an anchor point for sutures or other flexible elements that can be used to secure bone fragments or implants. The bone anchor can have engagement features that can be driven into the surrounding bone structure to fix the bone anchor to the bone. If the engagement features are not properly secured, the bone anchor can disengage from the bone when the suture or the flexible element is tensioned to secure the bone fragments or implants.